The rapid growth of the portable computer market demonstrates that computer users prefer the freedom to work in different locations that these computers afford. Increasingly, portables are being purchased by both individuals and large firms as desktop replacement computers. Many users have a home office that constitutes an office environment. As a result, there is a need for portables that can provide performance comparable to desktop computers. Many portable owners use the machine a majority of the time in an office environment, often times connected to a dock. Use outside of an office environment may include working at various locations in the home, on a plane, or in hotel rooms.
One drawback with typical portable computers is that they do not provide an ergonomic environment that many users desire when working on computers for long periods of time in an office environment. Specifically, many users prefer the computer display to be at eye level. When the portable computer is used on a table or desk, the display is typically well below the user's eyes, thus forcing the user to bend their head forward and down to view the display. This is not as much of a problem outside the office environment, because such remote uses tend not to be for long periods of time. However, when the portable computer is used in the office environment, many users desire the computer screen to be elevated to reduce neck and shoulder strain that can occur over long periods of computer use. Typical portable computers simply do not provide a way to elevate the screen for use in an office environment. In addition, a portable computer laying flat on a desktop uses up significant workspace, especially if an external keyboard is used.
Another concern with portable computers is reduced performance due to the limited ability of portable computers to dissipate internally generated heat. Computing performance is mainly considered to be the speed by which the central processing unit (CPU) can execute numerical computations, although the speed of access to data stored in disk drives is also a widely used performance criteria. For any given circuit architecture, speed is governed mainly by the clock-speed of a microprocessor. In fact, computer models are marketed in large part by the speed rating, in megahertz, of the main system clock. High performance portable computers may also include the ability to handle a range of lo media types such as high capacity hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, or DVDs; fast, high-resolution video processing; and connectivity functionality provided by networking and other ports.
Unfortunately, there is a problem combining all of these components into a single, small enclosure. As the system tends toward thermal equilibrium, the thermal sum of the components raises the temperature above the manufacturer's specified operating temperature limits of some or all of the components. CPUs in particular have a proportional relationship between processing power and thermal output. In order to cool these devices, portable computers must include a combination of heat moving and dissipating components such as fans, planar heat spreaders, heat exchangers, heatpipes, and heatsinks.
The size and weight of portable computers are some of the most important performance constraints. Given similar computing performance features, users prefer to purchase the product with the smallest form factor and lightest weight. In fact, many consumers make the purchase decision based on the advertised length, width, and thickness dimensions of the product. Therefore, it is undesirable to have to include the various heat dissipating components mentioned above.
As a result of these forces, portable computers are nearing the limit of the amount of heat that can be dissipated from a given volume associated with the portable. Subnotebooks are especially constrained in terms of the amount of heat removing components that can be contained in them and still meet subnotebook size requirements. The cooling problem is exacerbated by the fact that the external surfaces that are the most efficient for natural convection heat transfer, the horizontal top and vertical surfaces, cannot exceed certain temperatures in order to dissipate heat because the user can touch them. Excessive temperatures on these surfaces would cause discomfort or injury if the user came in contact. Furthermore, there is a UL touch temperature limit for plastic surfaces that manufacturers usually do not exceed.
There is a need for a device that elevates the display of a portable computer for comfortable viewing and increasing space efficiency of the desktop, while aiding in the dissipation of internally generated heat, to provide for maximum ergonomic and computational performance equal to desktop computers when used in an office environment.